Jonah 4:10-11

Jonah 4:10    

And the Lord said, "You have compassion on the plant that you did not labor, nor cause it to grow, in a night it came up and in a night it died.

            Verse ten opens with a qal, wayyiqtol verb, and is the final portion of the conversation between God and Jonah. However, we will see that Jonah is now addressed in the second person from here forward.[1] Yet, God has one final message for Jonah, even in the second person.

            "חַ֙סְתָּ֙ עַל־הַקִּ֣יקָי֔וֹן אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־עָמַ֥לְתָּ" God is addressing Jonah's hypocrisy of having compassion for a plant but not the city of Ninevah. חַ֙סְתָּ֙ comes from the root meaning to have pity or compassion. However, it is sometimes translated to simply mean care.[2] Jonah showed displeasure over the loss of the plant that he did not labor to grow (עָמַ֥לְתָ). God pointed out that Jonah had no work to make the plant grow. By contrast, Jonah had to labor to travel to Ninevah and preach the Word of God. However, Jonah's anger and hatred for the people of Nineveh were so prevalent that he would rather be unsuccessful than see God's mercy.

Labor is the second masculine singular perfect of עָמַל "to toil or labor."[3]It carries the thought of construction or laborious work. Through this, God was reminding Jonah that He had provided the plant and that nothing was required of Jonah in return. However, Jonah was not concerned for the plant but rather for his selfish pleasure.[4] This selfishness was the same spirit that Jonah had maintained towards Ninevah.

            אָבָֽד (to die) is a common theme throughout Jonah. The sailors feared that they would die and asked Jonah to call upon his God. The king of Ninevah called for repentance and said that maybe they wouldn't die.[5] Jonah requested to die, and now God said that the plant rose up in a night and died in a night. However, throughout the Jonah narrative, God has shown mercy in every situation up until the plant. In every prior case, God has shown mercy. However, God has allowed death this time due to Jonah's persistent lack of repentance.

Jonah 4:11

And should I not have compassion for the great city of Ninevah, where there are 120,000 people who do not know their right hand from their left, and many animals?

            And should I not have compassion for the great city of Ninevah is the beginning of the final question that God has for Jonah. The negative participle לֹ֣א indicates a question. Therefore, the sentence shifts from a command that God will have compassion to a question for Jonah to examine.

            In this case, God displays continual compassion to Ninevah. Yet, God's tendency to demonstrate compassion is revealed throughout the Jonah narrative. Unfortunately, Jonah has yet to comprehend this message, so God seeks to speak to Jonah one more time.

            אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֶשׁ־בָּ֡הּ הַרְבֵּה֩ מִֽשְׁתֵּים־עֶשְׂרֵ֨ה רִבּ֜וֹ אָדָ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יָדַע֙ בֵּין־יְמִינ֣וֹ לִשְׂמֹאל֔וֹ is the terms by which God describes Ninevah. מִֽשְׁתֵּים־עֶשְׂרֵ֨ה רִבּ֜וֹ is the numerical size of the city. The words seem to translate as twelve, ten, and thousand. However, both מִֽשְׁתֵּים־עֶשְׂרֵ֨ה have alternative translations of six-score. Regardless, it is commonly accepted to mean 120,000 people. Therefore, הַרְבֵּה֩ is a hiphil infinitive absolute but suggests that the number is more than the stated amount.

            אָדָ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יָדַע֙ בֵּין־יְמִינ֣וֹ לִשְׂמֹאל֔וֹ is translated as, "That do not know their right hand from their left." However, Simon says that this is a metaphor, meaning that they cannot discern good from evil.[6] The hithpael verb יָדַע֙ means to know. However, God is not saying that the Ninevites could not understand, but rather that they did not yet understand. The preceding word לֹֽאis a negative participle that can show that the word is in a question. This passage seems to indicate that the word is not meant as cannot but as a question of their understanding.

            The closing statement is וּבְהֵמָ֖ה רַבָּֽה (and many animals). This closing thought illustrates the compassion of God, which extends even to the animals. He did not wish to destroy Nineveh for the sake of the people and the animals there. Thus, Jonah closes with the same compassion that initiated Jonah's first call.

The sign of Jonah

Matthew 12:39–42 NKJV

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

The sign of Jonah was the preached word.

[1]Lessing, Concordia Commentary JONAH.384.

[2]Simon, Uriel, The JPS Bible Commentary JONAH. 44.

[3]Ibid., 385.

[4]Ibid., 406.

[5]Ibid., 406.

[6]Simon, Uriel, The JPS Bible Commentary JONAH. 46.